


The Garden

by xNewPerspectivex



Category: Labyrinth (1986)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Jareth has feelings for Sarah, Mentions of Rape, Sarah had feelings for Jareth, Sarah is a noble, Slow Burn, childhood crush
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-27
Updated: 2020-04-29
Packaged: 2020-10-29 09:28:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20794412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xNewPerspectivex/pseuds/xNewPerspectivex
Summary: Sarah Williams and her family grew up on the outskirts of the labyrinth, living in peace within the village of Miso. However, that all changes as eight-year-old Sarah meets a stranger with mismatched eyes that seemed to be running from Goblins within the labyrinth one fateful afternoon. As a friendship blossomed and then diminished, Sarah tries her best to forget about the Goblin Prince - later Goblin King - while he seems to remember everything about her.





	1. A Hot Afternoon

Around this time of the day, Sarah would be in dance lessons right about now – at the discretion of her step-mother. She was to take dance lessons, posture lessons, dialect lessons, and all of the lessons within the land that could land her a possible suitor and to grow up past the fairy tales that Sarah constantly surrounded herself in. However, it was this day that Sarah finally had enough and had traveled into the labyrinth – just a bit, not enough to get lost, but she found herself getting frustrated.

As human subjects of the Goblin King, they were based on the outskirts of the labyrinth. They weren’t allowed to live within the Goblin city as there has been a past rebellion that ended poorly in the humans’ favor long before Sarah was born. Her father and step-mother both warned her about the labyrinth and the Goblin city both – claiming that the goblins kidnapped human children to turn them into goblins, as well as the Goblin King making promises to children to take away their younger, annoying sibling. Sarah didn’t have any siblings, so she wasn’t sure if that was true – she wasn’t sure if the other two were true as well, but she never really got the nerve to venture out into the labyrinth.

It was dusty, crumbling and cramped as she made her way down the narrow path – it felt like the walls were getting narrower and closing in over her head. They may have been, but she didn’t want to humor the thought of herself being buried alive since everything wasn’t as it seemed within this world. Within the Goblin country, nothing was as you truly viewed it. Sarah was a curious eight-year-old as she found a new corner, and turning it she saw another person – a human, she thought, arguing with some goblins. He looked to be about thirteen, and Sarah hid behind the wall – listening to what he was saying. “I said to leave me alone!” The boy yelled, he had a weird accent – one Sarah never heard it before, and the humans that she came in contact with every day had various accents that Sarah deciphered flippantly without a second thought.

But this one.

This one was different, a refreshing different. A different that made her bleak life not look so awful like it did every day. “But, your majesty, we can’t do that! Your father is looking-”

“Forget my father! I want to see what’s on the other side of the labyrinth.” The boy argued back. Sarah peeked around the corner, her eyes widening in horror as she saw the goblins try to drag him towards a direction that she had no idea of knowing where it went. Without much thinking, or hesitation, Sarah picked up a rock that was by her foot and threw it at the goblins – this caused mass panic as they tried to search for the source of where it had been launched from, which allowed Sarah to throw another one. And another one. And another one. Eventually, the goblins ran off, further into the labyrinth and the boy spun around to look at Sarah.

Sarah pushed herself away from the wall. “Are you alright?” She asked. “Did the goblins hurt you?” The boy seemed confused and Sarah’s face grew pink when she further studied his face. Blonde hair that seemed to have been slicked back, he was wearing expensive clothes which could mean he was a noble humans’ son – just as Sarah was a noble humans’ daughter. He had mismatched eyes and Sarah never saw that before – it was different, this boy was overall different and it made her want to befriend him. “The goblins like to tease and pick on human children, I’ve heard.” She said with a slight smile. “If you’re hurt, we can get you to a physician-”

“No need,” The boy replied curtly. “I’m fine.” Just as Sarah seemed to have been observing him, he seemed to have been observing her. Her hair was pulled away from her face, but was styled in curls cascading down her back and over her shoulders. Her dress was long, but it didn’t cling to her arms or legs, it was light fabric – and a lot of it. Her father and step-mother both liked to dress her up, but she would rather wear pants much like the other boys in the village that she lived in. “Who are you?” He asked, and whatever attitude he previously had disappeared as he moved closer to the girl.

“I am Sarah Williams, daughter of Robert Williams and step-daughter to Irene Williams,” Sarah said with a curtsy, bowing her head as she did so. When she looked back up, she noted how the boy seemed to be confused. “May I ask who are you?” Sarah remembered her training in this moment – the only moment, that is to try to become more ladylike to find an eligible suitor. However, when she saw this boy, she only wanted to befriend him as she saw him as a breath of fresh air.

“My name is Jareth Cobble.” Jareth replied, and for a moment Sarah saw something in his eyes that she couldn’t quite place her finger on. Only that it looked like he seemed to have been battling with himself. “I’m the son of...Edward Cobble and Eliza Cobble.” The look seemed to have deepened and Sarah wondered if something happened to his parents. “I could ask you what you are doing in the labyrinth, it’s not meant for young children.” He said a bit bitterly. Sarah wondered what he meant by this as it seemed to have a double meaning, nevertheless, she couldn’t stop herself from speaking truly to the boy who seemed to be struggling to talk to her.

“The village, Miso, it’s so boring in the afternoon – I wanted to see the inside of the labyrinth for myself since I’ve heard so many stories about it.” Sarah explained. “And then I saw you and those goblins, are you sure you’re okay?” She asked once more, worry crossing her features and Jareth seemed to be even more confused by her words, but he did good at batting away her worried looks and comments on his health. Jareth found this human girl amusing, and since he lied about his identity – which he still has no idea why he did – he was hoping that this would be the last time he ran into the young human child.

However, it wouldn’t be.

It was like clockwork, Jareth realized, he would find himself going to the same spot every day. It was as if he was trying to see if the girl would come back to the same spot. And she did, at first, Jareth would just watch her, as if he was studying her and what she would do within the labyrinth walls. She seemed like the curious type, but not too curious as to get herself in a tricky situation. The girl, Sarah, he tried to remind himself – why would he try to remind himself of her name? She was a human, and once she realized who he was she would try to betray him in some way. All of the humans do.

But when Sarah spotted him, like she inevitably would do, Jareth couldn’t stop himself from going down and talking to the younger girl. “How was your day, Jareth?” She asked with a polite smile. The girl always seemed to be polite to Jareth, but he knew that it was genuine – unlike the other servants within the Goblin Castle that were nice to him for the sake of his title. _The Goblin Prince_. Unlike his father, Jareth’s title wasn’t as fearsome – but fearsome nonetheless. Servants would grit their teeth and suck up the hard work just to be able to keep a job and put food on the table for their families.

“It was fine,” Jareth began – he knew that he would eventually bore this human girl as most humans need some sort of stimulation to continue on with something. “I had classes in social studies,” _war tactics_, “literature,” _histories of past Goblin Kings,_ “and dialect.” _talking to humans in the sense of talking down on them_. Sarah seemed pleased with these altered responses that Jareth came up with over the days of trying to reciprocate what she had told him about herself. Sarah liked to dance, but not ballroom dancing, it was atrocious. Sarah liked to paint and write, but she didn’t paint or write the things that her family wanted – it was about creatures and far away places that she told Jareth she wanted to run off to.

“_Don’t you want to run off with me?” Sarah asked one evening when they had met at their rendezvous point. Jareth was confused – as he had never thought of running away. He wondered why she wanted to, and unknown to him he had asked his question aloud. “For obvious reasons, the Goblin King.” She whispered this so quietly that Jareth had to strain to hear. “I heard that he has human servants in the castle that he torments, and every ten years he trades them out for new ones from different lands. They never go back to see their families – how awful is that?” _

_It was at this point that Jareth felt sick to his stomach, the rumors of his father only seemed to be growing but with every rumor there was also a hint of truth. “I also heard that he got a human woman pregnant.” She gossiped further, and Jareth wanted to pass out when she said that. “They say this his son looks human but has goblin tendencies. Like living forever, having immunities to most sickness and being amazing in combat.” Jareth felt proud when he heard that last part – and was kind of surprised that it was true._

“_How do you know this?” Jareth asked._

“_It’s just rumors that some of the servants have gotten on the outside of the castle. They say that the Prince is sometimes difficult to deal with, but that they can kind of understand why.” Sarah said with a shrug of her shoulders._

“_Understand?” Jareth asked. “What could they possibly understand? He’s probably a monster just like his father.” Jareth said a bit bitterly, and when he realized what he had said he was hoping that she didn’t pick up on his tone that he had used. Sarah seemed shocked at this but recovered as she has never heard Jareth speak like this before._

“_Well, like for humans – there are often times where two people of different races fall in love and have a child,” Sarah began, “and the child is faced with racism every day of its life. They believe that the Prince may also face some kind of racism throughout his life because of his Goblin and human background. They don’t want anything cruel to be said about him.” Jareth felt something, warm, spread throughout his chest as he heard this. He wasn’t sure what this emotion was – but it made him feel...content in a way. He would have to treat the servants better._

As the days turned into weeks, then months, and it had been a year when the two had met each other. Jareth was now fourteen and Sarah was nine – they had spent the day before their birthday with each other since their families would spend all day with them the day of. Sarah was sitting on a blanket that she brought from her home and Jareth was sitting next to her. Sarah was working on some needlepoint that she had brought from home, and Jareth brought some food so that they could have a picnic together. “Sarah, let’s run away.” Jareth’s words made Sarah look up in surprise, but when she saw his mismatched eyes staring intently at her she felt somewhat intimidated.

Over the course of their friendship, Sarah developed a small crush on the boy next to her – though she knew that it wouldn’t work due to his age. She also heard him talking about the girls that his father had been introducing him to as of late, and it made Sarah wonder if his father knew about her. The two thought that it was best to keep their friendship a secret, Sarah because she knew her step-mother would arrange an engagement right away, and Jareth because his father was the Goblin King and there was no telling what he would do to the sweet, human girl that Jareth came to know.

“I...I’m sorry, what was that?” She asked. Jareth gave her one of his crooked smiles, the one that Sarah knew whenever he was genuinely smiling. Either out of teasing or happiness, the reason changed just as quickly as the seasons did.

“I said let’s run away, leave the labyrinth – Miso, Tareth, everything in between, behind us and start a new life together.” Jareth said. Sarah’s face turned pink as she tried to calm herself, trying to think of what to do. “My father found out about you,” Jareth began. “He was somewhat displeased that I allowed myself to become friends with someone that he does not approve of, nor that I have gotten his approval of yet.” Jareth explained.

“The way you say that, it’s as if your family is more important than the average noble.” Sarah interjected. She had done her part of keeping their friendship hidden, however she always wondered about Jareth, since when she started asking around the village of Miso about the Cobble nobles no one knew who she was talking about. And when Jareth said he resided in Tareth, Sarah knew that was a city closer to the inside of the labyrinth – closer to the castle, and she wondered if he ever came in contact with the Goblin King or Prince. At one point, she even wondered if he was the Goblin Prince which scared her sort of.

“Yes, my family is more important than the average noble.” Jareth slowly explained. He knew that he would eventually have to tell her, he was just hoping that it would be later on in their lives – after they had ran away. However, with that look on her face – Jareth knew it, it was whenever she was stubborn and wanted answers. Not tomorrow, or the next day, or the next week. She wanted the answers now and she wouldn’t budge until she got them. “I’ve been wanting to tell you this for a while...but every time I tried to tell you, I always felt the need to hide it even more.”

Sarah’s look of confusion crossed her features, but they were interrupted by goblins running towards the pair. “Prince Jareth!” And before his very eyes, Jareth saw something in Sarah’s eyes that made him wish he told her sooner. It was the look of betrayal. She pushed herself up from the ground. “Your father, the Goblin King is looking for you!” Sarah’s eyes hardened as she took off in the other direction, Jareth yelling at her to wait and he tried to reach for her but she was too fast. He didn’t have enough control of his magic yet to try to teleport in front of her to get her to listen.

Why did she look so betrayed? Jareth figured he would be the one who would feel betrayed, imagined seeing a look of conniving on Sarah’s face as he told her. However, all he saw on her face was hurt and anger. Did she not like that he was the Goblin Prince? The sole heir to the Goblin throne? He felt anger bubble up within his own chest – well he was sorry that he was a filthy prince, not good enough for a human girl. Wretched thing, he knew that his father would have better women lined up for his son to choose to marry.

But this feeling.

This feeling of emptiness as he marched back towards the castle.

Why wasn’t it going away?

Jareth went back the next day, the goblins had gathered her blanket and needlepoint and put it in Jareth’s room. He had brought it with him, to return to her, but as the afternoon turned to twilight he knew that she wasn’t coming. He tried again for the next day, the next week, the next month.

But he never saw Sarah for the rest of the year.


	2. The Coronation

Sarah was now eighteen, she had grown up to be one of the most beautiful girls in Miso village. Her step-mother constantly told her that she had a handful of suitors that were wanting to marry her – but Sarah never accepted them as she knew that they were only liking her for her looks, not anything about her personality. If she would marry, she decided, it would be for love. However, she hasn’t even tickled the thought of love for a very long time. Sarah’s brow furrowed as she began the walk to the village’s square – the locked doors of the labyrinth looming over her as a constant reminder of what happened ten years ago. She was trying her best to push the memories far from her mind, but every time she came across those doors – they all came rushing back.

That jerk still has my blanket. Sarah thought bitterly as she gave a soft smile and bow to a man who tipped his hat at her. Even though Sarah knew this, she couldn’t bear to face the man called the Goblin Prince at the time. Sarah never care for liars, to this day she still doesn’t. The fact that Jareth felt like he needed to hide his true identity from Sarah made her believe that he didn’t trust her. Needless to say, she felt like she shouldn’t trust him much after that incident. She stopped outside of the baker’s shop that she bought her family’s bread from. And in there, an older woman greeted her. Sarah believed her name was Miss Voorhees. She had a son that was a little younger than Sarah that was named Jason, and occasionally Sarah would watch Jason whenever her mother needed the extra help. “Good morning, Sarah!” Miss Voorhees called, and at the sound of her name, Sarah heard Jason scramble from the back on the shop to the front.  
“Sarah!” Jason yelled as he wrapped his arms around the older girl’s waist. “Did you come for your bread? I made it myself this morning!” He said happily to which Sarah smile and hugged him back. 

“Did you? Then I know it will be the best bread ever!” Sarah said happily. This pleased the eight-year-old and he disappeared into the back while Sarah and Miss Voorhees began the transaction for the bread that Sarah was paying for. The kind woman began talking to Sarah about the labyrinth, the very place that Sarah was hoping to avoid for the rest of her life. “What of it? It’s just something ugly that no human should have to step into.” Sarah said a but hautily while looking off to the side, causing the woman to wonder what on earth the girl was going on about. 

“Well, the Goblin Princes coronation is coming up.” Miss Voorhees explained, carefully wrapping the bread and placing it into Sarah’s basket. “That means that the labyrinth will be opened for humans to have guidance to the castle – the Goblin King is throwing a ball in honor of his son, there’s talk of the Prince even marrying one of the nobles’ daughters.” Sarah felt something pang within her, something that made her hate herself. Was it jealousy? Why would it be? Sarah hadn’t seen the Goblin Prince in the last ten years, and was hoping to make it eleven with her upcoming birthday. 

“Why would anyone go to a ball for that man? No one has ever seen him, much less his father unless you live on the inside of the labyrinth.” Sarah said, grabbing the basket that Miss Voorhees handed to her as she talked. “We’re the bottom of the bottom to them, why would they want us to come to his coronation?” 

“My sister says that the castle is changing.” Miss Voorhees replied. “She’s been a maid there ever since we were sixteen, imagine that – not being traded out when she turned twenty-six, but being kept on. She said it was because of the Goblin Prince.” Sarah’s eyes widen, but she turned her head so that Miss Voorhees wouldn’t see her face. He was changing, Sarah knew, she remembered him always being kind to her – always patient. She was hoping that it wasn’t for show, and rather that his personality was always like that. “You should go to the ball.”

“What?” Sarah’s head whipped around when Miss Voorhees said this.

“Imagine that – our Sarah, the Goblin Prince’s bride!” She cooed. “It would be eternal happiness to know that you would be so well off.”

“Not in a thousand years.” Sarah bitterly replied before making a hasty exit out of the bakery. She wanted to put as much space between her and Miss Voorhees at the moment. Her head was swimming with the past conversations that she held with Jareth. Her head was also swimming, against her will, at the scenarios that she had been coming up in her head the next time she would ever meet Jareth. If she ever wanted to gather her courage together to go see him in the labyrinth again, for the last time.   
At least, that’s what she always told herself.

Sarah knew that if she ever saw Jareth again, there would be a part of her – so desperate, so panicked of wanting to hold on to him and to not let him go again. She missed the friendship that they had, but the lies and the excuses that he came up with still rang clear in her mind every time she found herself missing his mismatched eyes. She stopped in the middle of the street when they flashed through her mind again. They were the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen, no one else’s eyes she had saw could compare to his.

She shook her head, and tucked it down – continuing on to the manor that her parents resided in. She fought herself to hell and back to forget those eyes, and she had done a good job of it up until now. She stopped at the oak door that was twice her height, and opened it by pushing it forward – a servant waiting to receive her shawl, another grabbing the basket from her hand as she made her way to the stairs to hide herself from her step-mother. Her baby brother, Toby, whizzed by her. He was only ten at the time, but he managed to out run everyone within the manor. “Hey, Sarah!” He called and Sarah felt all of her hopes shatter as she heard heels clicking on the wooden floor.

“Welcome home, Sarah!” Her step-mother called. Sarah turned to face her step-mother, Irene, who was smiling pleasantly up at her step-daughter. Irene wasn’t cruel, the only part that Sarah found cruel about the woman was that she wanted Sarah to marry so badly. For whatever reason, Sarah didn’t know, nor did she really have enough curiosity to find out. “Have you heard the news, the Goblin King is having a ball for the Prince’s coronation!” Oh joy.

“Yes, I know.” Sarah replied, her hand curling around on the railing of the stairs. Irene raised a brow, and Sarah already knew the conversation that was coming from her.   
“No, I do not want to go – I do not want to see the coronation, nor do I want to get married any time soon, Irene.” Irene’s lips pursed into a thin line and Sarah felt like she had won a small victory against the never-ending conversation of Sarah’s impending doom of marriage.

“Well, I knew you would say this – that’s why your father,” Oh shit, “insists that you go, we will both accompany you.” Irene said with a smile that Sarah believed to hold malicious intent against her. Sarah would never win against Irene, unless she married and then killed her husband – but then she would probably be thrown into another endless cycle with Irene about remarrying. Sarah believed that Irene is ridiculously lonely – or was – and is living vicariously through Sarah at the prospect of meeting some dashing, handsome prince and being swept off her feet into an even more lavish lifestyle. Sarah’s thoughts once again turned to the mismatched eyes and a glare settled on to her face. “We will be going dress shopping tomorrow, no getting out of it.”

“Yes Irene.” Sarah groaned before trudging up the stairs to her room, trying to devise a plan on getting out of going dress shopping tomorrow.

Jareth had spent the last two weeks preparing for his coronation – his father was in declining health, and while Goblins do live forever, they weren’t immune to certain poisons. Jareth had planted the poison a few months ago, but it was only rearing it’s head now – his father was dying, and fast. Jareth was standing in front of his mirror, looking at his appearance – the suit that he would be wearing to the ball. A navy blue overcoat with tan pants and tan boots to match. “Your majesty.” A goblin hobbled into the room, and Jareth turned to look at him. “We have a report on the human girl, Sarah Williams.”

Jareth had the guilty pleasure of abusing his powers being the Goblin King’s son, he made goblins spy on the girl from the moment they became distant with each other. Jareth never could get her quite out of his head – and for some reason it had been getting harder every day with the ball coming up. A part of him was hoping that Sarah would show, but he knew that she would probably fight with her step-mother against the idea. He couldn’t particularly blame her, he didn’t really care for balls either since through so much training he was practically being raised to be married off for political reasons. “Go ahead, what do you have to say?” He asked before taking the navy overcoat off, and placing it in a chair. His white shirt had been tucked in, but he quickly moved it so that he didn’t feel suffocated by it.

“She is coming to the ball, your majesty.” A goblin pipped up, as the previous one became distracted by something shiny on the dresser. “Unwillingly, but she is coming at the request of her father and step-mother.” Jareth felt something in his chest, the same thing that he felt whenever he first met Sarah – and he had came to know that feeling as happiness. However, he also knew that she would probably be annoyed by the fact that she was to attend the ball, as well as having to potentially interact with Jareth. And Jareth wasn’t going to allow her to slip away without him talking to her again, and tell her why he did what he did. 

“Good, treat her as you would any royal.” Jareth then dismissed them as he turned to look back at the mirror. He ran his hand along the edge of it as they all filed out of the room, ripples breaking out across the smooth, reflective surface. Once the ripples stilled and Jareth was able to properly see – he saw Sarah walking down the roads of Miso. She was accompanied by two girls that appeared to be her age, chatting about shopping for a new dress to wear to the ball. Jareth did this every now and then – whenever the reports weren’t enough to suffice his hunger to see her again. He watched her change throughout the years to become the witty, sassy young woman that she now held in such high regard. And Jareth felt a sense of pride whenever he saw her grow up.  
Especially whenever she rejected the other boys in her village. 

Jareth has always been known, since he was a young child, unwilling to share his favorite toys. He didn’t believe in sharing, and thought that once something was his, whoever wanted it should venture out and find their own just like Jareth’s. Sarah was one of a kind, a person that Jareth had never been able to find over the years as he ventured out to find a wife to rule alongside him in the Goblin City. Every woman was lackluster, too stupid, or too predictable. Frankly, they bored Jareth to the point that Jareth would lie just to escape their clutches. Sarah was a dazzling sun, and Jareth was the moon – small compared to her who shine so brightly and openly. He knew that the people that his father currently ruled over, would adore her and she would be able to gain their trust quickly. This was something in Jareth’s mind that he never denied to be the truth. Jareth, on the other hand was a dark force that drove people to look over their shoulder at every little thing that went bump whenever they were alone with him. He scared the people that he would soon rule over, and he knew that they had every reason to be afraid of him,  
He was killing his own father, after all.

Sarah sighed for the fiftieth time that she had gotten ready, she was sitting in the carriage on her way through the labyrinth to the Goblin City. The ball for Jareth was happening within the next hour or so, and to say that the roads were packed were an understatement. They even left from their manor early, but it seemed that everyone else had the same idea as the Williams’. Sarah was about to mess with her dress when Irene began talking. Something that Sarah wanted to avoid at the moment. “I heard that the castle went under extreme repairs and renovations over the past half year. I wonder if it was due to the Prince’s upcoming coronation.” Sarah had been biting her tongue or a while, but in this moment she was unable to stop herself.

“How is he even becoming king? I thought that Goblins lived forever.” Sarah replied. Her parents looked between each other, as if they were having some conversation that Sarah wasn’t ready for yet. “I know that there are some diseases that can weaken them, but for the most part they’re practically immortal.” Irene drew in a sharp breath, before fanning herself with a fabric fan that she bought off of some tailor a month back.

“Well, nevertheless, Prince Jareth is having a coronation. It could be that his father simply wants to step away from the throne – not deal with the politics and stress that the kingdom may have on him.” Irene explained. Sarah momentarily forgot that Irene was technically a princess, despite being in her mid forties, Irene was a princess of a mostly human land. At the moment, Sarah couldn’t remember the name – but she thought it was called Amerigo. Irene ran away from home at a young age, when Sarah was just a baby and married Sarah’s father. Irene was, and is, in love with Sarah’s father. Sarah was amazed that she would throw something away like becoming queen one day. However, Irene wasn’t wanting to become queen – she wanted her own happiness. So she created it.

“Perhaps,” Sarah began. “Or maybe he killed his father.”

“Don’t say such treacherous things!” Irene whispered hurriedly. “They’ll have your head on a pike-” How barbaric. “-for saying something like that!” Irene fanned herself faster and Sarah wanted to laugh at how comical her step-mother looked. Nearly like something out of Pride and Prejudice. “Just try to avoid conversation topics like ‘theoretical murder’ for tonight, dear Sarah. Please.” Irene begged. Sarah sighed, agreed, and turned her head to look out of the window at the passing scenery. Sarah noted how they passed by the same spot that she visited with Jareth, briefly wondering if it was intentional that the carriages would have to pass by that same spot.   
Jareth was in control of the labyrinth, he created the path to the castle.

Or at least, that’s what Sarah was telling herself. She wasn’t paying that much attention, and when they arrived at the castle Sarah found herself panicking at the idea of coming face to face with the Goblin Prince – though when she heard that there would be royal families her, a part of her knew that it would be nearly impossible to interact with him – or him her. Sarah grabbed a hand of a human servant, and helped herself out, “-and their daughter, Sarah Williams.” Ugh, having her name announced – everyone’s eyes were on her. Sarah wanted to hide and throw out the pastel blue dress that Irene made her wear. It was like every other ball dress, with a hoop skirt under to make the skirt look bigger. The sleeves were long, the neckline and shoulders scooping off to show off the diamond necklace that she was wearing. Her hand landed in another’s, and when she turned her head – her eyes widen.

“Thank you for coming to my coronation, Miss Williams.” Jareth said before kissing her hand.

The desire to punch the man beside her has never been stronger in her life.


	3. The Coronation Ball

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jareth asks Sarah to dance after she fails at avoiding the persistent man.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait, I've been going through a bit of a slump and I'm hoping that this will claw me out of it. Sorry if it's too short but I have to be up at 4:30 AM to go to work;;

Sarah was well aware of how she didn’t quite cope with parties, much less a coronation. She resorted to becoming a part of the wall and watching countless ladies and lords dance within the ballroom. However, just being introverted wasn’t the only reason she was trying to stay out of sight. Her eyes were scanning the room, forever watching the future Goblin King as he seemed to not want to approach her if she was paying attention. She even managed to plant herself behind two gossiping noble women who couldn’t keep their mouths shut. When a young woman and young man entered the room, their whispering voices tilted. “That’s Anastasia and her brother Avery - Anastasia is hoping to become the Goblin Queen, you know.”

“She’s rather beautiful. Although, I’ve heard she’s quite an airhead.” The second woman said. Anastasia made her way to Jareth rather quickly from what Sarah could see, and she seemed to be attempting to get his attention, when it didn’t go her way she began to pout. Sarah couldn’t help but let out a slight chuckle - this caused Jareth to look her way. Sarah tried hiding her face in her wine glass, but it did no good. The Goblin Prince was on his way to her. “Jareth is coming this way, how do I look?” The woman hissed to her friend, the two women began fretting over each other and tried to make themselves look presentable. Sarah, on the other hand, began walking in a different direction. She didn’t want to talk to him no more than she had to. She nearly gave him a wicked right hook at the carriage port earlier that night.

She turned a corner when she bumped into someone, looking up she saw it was Avery - one of the two siblings that the women were talking about earlier. He was a rather handsome man, he had freckles splashed across his face and his auburn hair was slicked back to bring attention to his high cheekbones and emerald eyes. When his eyes landed on Sarah, it seemed that he flushed ever so slightly. “I’m sorry, I should have been watching where I was going.” Sarah immediately said, hiding her hands behind her back as she gave him a polite smile.

“No, perhaps it is my fault. I was lingering around a corner where no one could see me.” He quickly apologized. Sarah could feel someone staring into the back of her head, she refused to turn around to acknowledge who it was since she knew exactly who it was. “Forgive me of my deplorable manners, my name is Avery Maverick,” He reached for her hand and she allowed him to take it, he brought it up to his lips and kissed it. “May I know the pleasure of knowing your name, my lady?”

“Sarah of house Williams. The pleasure is all mine.” Sarah said with a smile. To say that she was enjoying this is an understatement. Avery has proven to be more of a gentleman than half of the men in her village. “May I ask where your family is from?” Avery gave her a smile that seemed polite, and he seemed to be relaxing. If only the burning would leave the back of her head.

“My sister and I are from Tareth, it’s a nice city scape with lots of things do during all of the seasons.” Avery had a sense of pride when he began talking about his home village. Sarah had never been to Tareth, but if she were to whisper word of potentially liking a boy her step-mother would arrange for her to go spend a summer in Tareth at some etiquette academy in hopes of the two running into each other. “What about you, Lady Williams?”

“My family and I reside in Miso. It’s just on the outskirts of the labyrinth.” Sarah explained, she turned slightly - and she was right. Jareth was glaring daggers at her, well, no that’s not right. He was glaring daggers at the unaware man that she was talking to. Jealous, are we Jareth? She thought with a smirk. “In the spring we get a lot of visitors coming to look at the rainbow tulips that bloom in the square. They’re only blooming in Miso for odd reasons.” Avery’s eyes lit up at this, perhaps he was into botony? 

“My sister, Anastasia, adores rainbow tulips! I’ll definitely have to bring her next spring.” Avery said with a smile. “I hope that we see each other when we visit.”

“Surely we will, it is a small village. I recommend the Voorhees Bakery, they have the best bread in all of the land I dare say.” Sarah said with a chuckle. The music came to a halt at this, and the crowd erupted into applause. Sarah followed suit as some of the dancers scampered off with their partners. The band was getting ready for another song, and Sarah turned to Avery. “Sir Avery, would you mind--”

“Lady Williams.” Jareth’s voice cut through the confined space that the two were in. Avery and Sarah both turned to Jareth. Avery bowed while a glare settled on Sarah’s face. “Would you do me the honor of having this dance?” He asked. Every part of Sarah’s being wanted her to tell the man no, how she wanted to avoid him for the rest of the night. But their were eyes watching her, the last thing she wanted was her step-mother to get any ideas about marrying her off to the Goblin Prince. 

“It would be my pleasure, my Prince.” Sarah intentionally dragged out the word as she allowed him to take her hand in his. Jareth didn’t show any anger towards how she addressed him, and led her out to the dance floor where she saw the two gossiping women that she was previously hiding behind begin to lapse into whispers. Oh please. Sarah placed her hand on his shoulder while the other held his hand. He placed his free hand on her waist and he began leading her when the music started up.

“Not much for words, Sarah?” Jareth whispered, Sarah looked up into the mismatched eyes and her breath caught in her throat. They were just as beautiful as the day when they first met. She felt anger surge through her body that she couldn’t bring herself to tell him off. Why? All because he was a prince and she couldn’t?

No. It’s because she knew that she still cared for him. And she was mad at herself for it.

“I don’t like to associate myself with liars, Prince Jareth.” The words slipped off her tongue before she could even stop herself. The look in his eyes was unreadable, but she did see a hint of regret. “I wish you would have told me sooner.” She mumbled. “I feel like you didn’t trust me, so in turn how can I trust you now?” The soft gentle waltz music washed over them as they both fell silent. She didn’t want Jareth to clam up, she wanted to keep talking to him. Oh God, did she miss his company and the shenanigans they got up to when they were younger. “As much as I was mad at you for not trusting me....I’ve missed you.” 

“I’ve missed you as well,” Jareth replied. He turned them once to avoid a couple that had a mouthful of each other and was going off to the edge of the dance floor. Sarah could feel someone staring at them, at the side of her eye she saw two people - her step-mother, and the girl Anastasia. She looked heartbroken and Sarah felt bad. Jareth’s eyes followed the girl who had been trying to get his attention all night before going back to the face of the girl who had been avoiding him. “I didn’t tell you, because at the time I was used to people using my title to get things out of me.” 

That left a bad taste in Sarah’s mouth. “I’ve never wanted anything from you, just your friendship.” Sarah replied. Another glare settled onto her face. “But I guess I never really had that, either.” She looked back in the direction of Anastasia. “I don’t understand why now, after everything I’ve wanted to say to you I’ve just run up blanks.”

Jareth smiled and twirled them once more. They were going to a more secluded area of the ballroom, where there were people rubbing on each other and not paying attention to the Goblin Prince dancing with a human girl. Sarah’s vision grew blocked with a woman who launched herself at her partner, trying to suck his face off. Sarah rolled her eyes as she looked up into Jareth’s eyes. “Well, we could always see each other again. I could ask your family to have you join an academy here and we could catch up.”

“You’ll just lie to me.” Sarah replied. Jareth’s gaze hardened ever so slightly. “Once you break my trust, it’s hard to get it back. I’ve been lied to by numerous people, including my biological mother. I knew you for a year, and you broke it. Why should I trust you now?” They both fell silent as the music faded and came to a stop.

“I’m a changed man.”

“So I’ve heard. But words are just noises emitted by people, actions are what people create to prove their worth, Jareth.” Sarah replied. She removed her hands from his and crossed her arms over her chest. “I would like to believe that you changed, but….a part of me thinks that you haven’t.” She reached up to his cheek, a sad smile on her face. “Maybe it would be better, if we acted like we never knew each other.”

“And start over?”

“No.” Sarah said. “You’ve caused me more heartbreak than you could have imagined. At one point, in my stupid nine-year-old mind I thought I was in love with you.” She drew a shaky breath. “But I realized it was just that. A stupid nine-year-old brain.” Jareth’s hand went up to the one on his cheek. His fingers were tracing her hand, his eyes were lidded and they didn’t show any anger or surprise at her confession.

“What if I’m in love with you now?” Jareth replied. The shock that went through Sarah surprised her. She felt tingling in her stomach, much like a schoolgirl with a crush. She let go of Jareth’s cheek and tried to pull her hand back, however Jareth continued to hold it. “It’s okay if you’re not in love with me right now, dear Sarah. I can wait.” He dipped down. When did he corner her against a wall? “I’ve waited for you for ten years, but I plan on making you fall in love with me all over again.” He planted a kiss on her forehead and then stocked away.

Sarah’s hand went up to her forehead, her face a deep scarlet. What the hell just happened?

Sarah quickly made her way back to the table that her parents were at, hoping that Irene would leave her be. When she didn’t see them at the table, but rather on the dance floor, she decided on going out onto one of the many balconies that were around the ballroom. She needed some fresh air to properly think. There weren’t much nobles on the balconies, so she sat on a wrought-iron bench that was off to the side. A servant came out with some wine and she grabbed a glass. She began sipping it. The cool air felt nice on her skin, it was changing from Summer to Autumn and she was more than excited about it. Aside from the rainbow tulips, Miso had and Autumn festival celebrating the villager’s first founding members that were now long and gone. There would be food and some dancing that wasn’t ballroom dancing. Sarah was looking forward to it.

“Lady Williams?” A quiet voice asked. Sarah looked up to see Anastasia who seemed to be...bashful? Sarah raised a brow. “I...I just wanted to say that, please don’t take Jareth away from me.” 

“Pardon?” Sarah asked, nearly choking on her wine.

“It’s just...my family, we’re losing our footing within the nobility world. I’ve been working hard on trying to keep our family on top. One way to do that is to marry the prince.” Anastasia explained. The poor girl seemed on the verge of tears and Sarah felt pity for her. It’s true, once a noble family’s versatility wore off they were cast aside. Anastasia appeared to be sixteen, still young even if just a few years younger than Sarah herself. Sarah gathered her skirts and motioned for Anastasia to sit down next to her.

“Honestly, I was surprised he wanted to dance with me.” Sarah replied. “I don’t know what’s going on within your family, but you’re a beautiful girl, Anastasia.”

“How do you know my name?” The girl asked. Sarah gave her a soft smile.

“There were these two women gossiping that I was hiding behind, hoping that Jareth wouldn’t see me.” Sarah explained.

“Are you acquainted with him?” Anastasia asked. Sarah pursed her lips, wondering what to tell the girl sitting next to her. She never lied to her family about knowing Jareth, but to be fair they never asked either. She wasn’t going to lie to Anastasia either.

“I’ve technically known him for ten years, going on eleven with my upcoming birthday.” Sarah began. Anastasia’s eyes widened when she said this, Sarah rubbed her temple and let out a breath. “He lied to me about who he truly was, he didn’t want me to know that he was the prince. When I found out that he had been lying to me for a year I was angry, I felt betrayed and I ran away. Tonight’s the first night we’ve spoken to each other.”

“Then it’s fate.” Anastasia said, Sarah looked over at the girl and she had a ghost of a smile on her lips. “Just as it’s my family's fate to fade into the background. The fact that you’ve both run into each other again proves that you’re both really influential one each other’s lives. I wish you the happiest times of your lives.” Anastasia said.

“Actually, wait.” Sarah grabbed the girl’s arm as she was about to run into the ballroom again. “I would love to get to know you more, I may know a few gentlemen that are bachelors. You’re a doll and I know that they would absolutely adore you.” Anastasia’s eyes widen and then she began dotting her eyes, tears on the brink of spilling out. She sat down next to Sarah, and the two began talking to each other as the night continued. Both unaware of the pair of eyes watching them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> .

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I've been watching the labyrinth for the past week and wanted to do something for it. I've made this video: https:// www. youtube. com/ watch?v=qKomyHvkAD0 and it kind of blossomed from there.


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